Magazine Commissions - Substance Magazine and InterZone

Magazine Commissions - Substance Magazine and InterZone

A long time ago I worked with a couple of Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers Magazines on both cover and internal illustrations. This was an interesting dipping of the toe into regular commercial work….

CITIZEN ED

Cover of the November 1996 issue of Interzone magazine featuring a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a white dress with gold accents, with a backdrop of space and mechanical elements.

A short story by Kim Newman & Eugene Byrne

Client
InterZone Magazine issue 113

Year
Nov 1996

Black and white illustration of a soldier in a war zone, with a destroyed tank and a soldier kneeling with a rifle, and a fallen soldier, set against a rural background with trees and a small house.
Black and white drawing of a zombie-like figure holding a gun inside a dark room with a window and hanging ropes.

Internal double page and 2 column illustrations for this Eric Brown short story.

A police officer holding a baton, standing next to a wall with black paint splatters forming a cross and a figure with long hair, dressed in striped clothing, sitting on the ground with a distressed expression.

Meet the editor from my work on the Substance Magazine. Great experience, would be given a couple of stories to provide internal illustrations with normally a 4 week turn round.

Appassionata

Cover of July 1996 issue of Interzone magazine featuring a split image of a human face with half organic and half robotic features, and the headline 'Now your robot can smile with holographic skin.'

A short story by Keith Brooke & Eric Brown

Client
InterZone Magazine issue 109

Year
July 1996

Vintage black and white illustration of a cozy living room with a grand piano, bookshelves, paintings, statues, and a family of four, with large window curtains.
Black and white illustration of a rural landscape with a lake, trees, hills, and a person walking along a path. Birds are flying in the sky and some are scattered on the ground.

Internal double page and 2 column illustrations for this Keith Brooke & Eric Brown short story.

The Spacetime Pit

Cover of the May 1996 issue of Interzone magazine, featuring an illustration of a volcanic landscape with flowing lava, erupting volcanoes, dark stormy clouds, and lightning in the sky.

A short story by Stephen Baxter & Eric Brown

Client
InterZone magazine issue 107

Year
May 1996

Black and white underground comic-style illustration depicting soldiers battling robotic creatures in a landscape with mountains, barbed wire, and a large spaceship. Text includes 'Stephen Eric Bacteria Brown' and partially visible 'Eschaton'.
Black and white artistic depiction of a soldier in uniform wearing a mask and glasses, holding a rifle, with a fence, trees, clouds, and a crescent moon in the background.

Internal double page and 2 column illustrations for this Eric Brown & Eric Brown short story.

A black and white illustration of a person walking in a desert landscape with mountains, a setting sun on the horizon, sparse clouds, and cracked dry ground.

SPIREY AND THE QUEEN

Cover of the June 1996 issue of Interzone magazine, featuring an illustration of a spaceship in space with Earth below. The cover lists stories by various authors including Alastair Reynolds, Catherine Mintz, Phil Masters, Dominic Green, Gary Couzens, and Stephen Baxter.

Short story by Alistair Reynolds

Client
InterZone Magazine issue 108

Year
June 1996

Black and white illustration of a scene from the movie 'Star Wars: A New Hope,' featuring the Death Star, a spaceship, and the forest moon of Endor with trees and Ewoks.
A science fiction illustration of an alien creature with tentacle-like appendages attacking a humanoid figure in a rocky landscape under a starry sky.

Internal double page and 2 column illustrations for this Alastair Reynolds short story. Alastair loved the double page illustration and bought the original.

life Sentence

Magazine cover of Interzone from September 1996, featuring a digital illustration of a person reaching out with blue and black tones, and a list of authors including Francis Amery and Molly Brown.

A short story by Paul Di Flipppo

Client
InterZone Magazine issue 111

Year
September 1996

Black and white illustration of two women, one on the left and one on the right, with their faces in profile. The woman on the left has vintage hair and is looking to the right, while the woman on the right has a bald head and is looking to the left. Between them, there are smaller figures of women engaged in different activities, forming a flowing pattern.
Black and white illustration depicting a large person standing with children at foot level. The person's torso and legs are visible, with the children looking up. The scene appears to portray outdoor activity on a playground or similar setting.

Internal double page and 2 column illustrations for this Paul De Filippo short story.

A person kneeling on the floor in front of a large distressing mirror reflecting several faces and people, with a sense of chaos and distress.

Wrap round covers

This was an exciting project for me at the time, I had meet the creator of the magazine and was given free-reign on the cover art and had many internal illustrations throughout my time on the 4 magazine run.

Client
Substance Magazine issue 1-4

Year
1995 to 1997

Cover of a science fiction magazine titled 'Substance' from Winter 1994, Issue 1, featuring a detailed black and white illustration of a person with an exposed robotic inner body, with a large, mechanical leg and arm. The cover highlights interviews with Storm Constantine, Stephen Baxter, Ben Jeapes, D. F. Lewis, and others, and is priced at 2.50 pounds.
Black and white illustration of humanoid and alien creatures connected by wires, with the word 'SUBSTANCE' in bold letters at the bottom.
A Mountaineer in heavy winter gear kneels in a snow-covered landscape with tall snow-capped mountains in the background. The scene is the cover of a 1995 autumn issue of 'Substance' magazine, which focuses on science fiction and fantasy.
Illustration of three mountaineers or explorers in winter gear, facing snowy mountain peaks under a clear blue sky.
Black and white cover of the Autumn 1996 issue of 'Substance,' a science fiction and fantasy magazine, featuring a detailed illustration of a futuristic dragon-like creature on a cracked landscape with mountains and the moon in the background.
Black and white sketch of a prehistoric landscape featuring a large, insect-like creature with wings, standing over a rocky terrain with mountains in the background.
Magazine cover of Substances from Spring 1995 featuring a landscape with rocky formations and a futuristic robot on a red, desert-like terrain, with mountains and a setting sun in the background.
A surreal landscape painting featuring rolling hills in shades of brown and purple, with a pink and orange sky in the background and factory smokestacks emitting smoke in the distance.